Anybody upgraded their headlights and fog lights to LED on their X308? I want to do it, but today found on SuperBrightLED's website that they may not work on the car because it "may require a CAN Bus bulb for proper operation." Is there any truth to this? Seems to me it ought to be a direct plug-in replacement, but being my first venture into Jaguars..... That's why I'm asking.
Thanks
Steve

 

Yes, I just responded to another post on a similar Q. I put in the regular LED in my dash and couldn't control the brightness...it was 24/7 bright. My buddy found where I missed the CAN BUS ones and I ordered, ...replaced ...and now can control my dimming. For your headlights, be careful, I believe there is a module that is also needed to prevent burnout. Contact Superbrightled, they'll respond. Legally you can only run a certain lumen rating and if caught with brighter, they can impound it. My old mechanic wouldn't install those super bright ones because they could come back on him for it. So if you do change, be sure your lights are properly aligned at minimum. As a matter of fact, don't you have inspections in Chi-town? Ask an inspection station, they'll tell you.

 

Don't know what they do down in the city, but out here in the suburbs the only inspection we're subjected to is EPA emissions. They plug into the OBD port while you wait in a little penalty box, and after reading all the computer info you either pass or fail based on what if any codes come up. Lights never come up.
I agree, going with a brighter lamp emphasizes the importance of well-aimed headlights. Nothing more annoying than encountering a car in oncoming with its lights aimed in my eyes, and I wouldn't want to do that to anyone else. I run LEDs on my Chevy van as well as on my motorcycle, and neither required anything special but then again the bike is an '81 and the van is a Chevy. The whole CAN BUS thing is kinda new to me.
Thanks
Steve

 

So, your inspection is like Atlanta's...they only care you can breath without suffocating.

 

Instead of restating my cranky old opinion I'll leave it to the experts... Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply

As to can-safe vs not can-safe, I don't think it matters for the headlights since the x308 doesn't detect burned out headlight bulbs (not sure), only tail lamps and turn signals. All the "can-safe" LED's generally do is add some kind of load resistors to prevent faulting the bulb failure sensing. If you unplug a headlight bulb, turn the lights on, and don't get an error, then you don't need to worry about whether the bulb is "can-safe".

 

Highhorse, I fitted LED's to my dash and have the same problem of 'no dimming'. Can you point me to the ones I should fit, a link or a brand/part number?

Many thanks
Paul

 

HID is still king. Will be for a while. Osram just released a"laser bulb" which is a stronger HID bulb. I have only put HID fogs in my car. 35watt @5500k Yes I know I need to fix ky front bumper. Need to fix why the car goes into failsafe first.

 

These are only the low beams, ...be sure to read the overview... https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...77&scc_id=1400
You just need to hit the drop down "View Compatible Location" in the lite green bar to prompt the high beam link.

 

I ordered 3 sets of lights from SuperBrightLEDs -- 2 sets of the H7s for low beam & high beam, and a set of 9006 fogs. Once the car is running (in the midst of timing chains, and also doing alternator, starter, thermostat, hoses, water pump, belt, tensioner, idler, .....) I'll post pics of the new lights -- based on my experience with LEDs in my van, it ought to make a huge difference in amount of light on the road.
Thanks
Steve

 

Did you ever get LEDs installed?

 

I have them on my Chevy van, also from SuperBrightLEDs. They were mostly a simple plug-in. I say mostly because the headlight carrier assembly on the van interfered with the cooling housing on the bulbs, and required a fair amount of customizing (hacking) on my part for everything to fit. Looking at the XJ, I don't see any such issue and the new lights will plug directly in. Note that these LEDs have a short (5-6") pigtail harness with the H7 plug on the end, so clearance on the backside is not an issue as you might think with these longer bulb housings.
On a related note, I also put aftermarket (ebay) LED fog lights on the van this summer. They were cheap, and when they're on I lose FM radio reception. Had to buy a bunch of ferrite coils to stick on the wiring harness to fix the problem.
The SuperBrightLEDs lights do not interfere with radio reception. You gets what you pays for......
Steve

 

From this old thread there is this video about installing LED headlights on an x308 Jaguar, ghetto style

 

Not concerned about clearence. Concerned about how to keep the bulbs in without using the OEM conectors that clip into the back of the headlights and actually hold the bulbs in place

 

My experience with these in my Chevy was that they push and twist in same as a halogen would. However, they remained a little loose and wobbly. I had read a lot of feedback indicating this was a potential issue -- it seems to affect some but not all applications. I ended up tweaking the metal tabs on the headlight housing a little, and the bulbs locked in tight as OEM.
Now that I think about it, H7s use a metal clip like an H4 does, don't they? I'll have to figure that out once I have lights in hand...
I will let everyone know how they fit in the Jag next weekend after they arrive. I'm not averse to pulling the lights and tweaking them like I did on the van. Definitely will NOT be using gorilla tape lol.......
Steve

 

H7 Bulbs are not Bayonet style. In our cars, the Plug clips into the Headlight via clips on the left and right

 

I am interested to see your progress on the LED, especially for the high beams.

But 01XJVP is right, on our Jaguars the H7's fit in a bit different way.
If you use HID's, you can use some BMW E39 holders to prevent butchering your OEM holders, those work perfectly.

However, I have never seen any LED bulb which should come close to an identical fitting, and I am afraid you will have a problem in hand.
That said, developments continue, so maybe there are better solutions now than before.

 

OK, so the bulbs arrived today. I headed outside, box in hand, and proceeded to remove the passenger-side headlight housing in order to fool with the lights. Why I chose this one is anybody's guess, as I'm sure you all know the washer reservoir is pretty much IN THE WAY. Oh well, I'll remove it before putting the light back in...
So as has been stated, of course the lights don't just snap into the housing. That would be too easy, which I've decided is not The Jaguar Way. Initial observations indicate that the factory plastic (the off-white cylindrical part that sticks up where the factory bulb snaps in) will need to be trimmed down about 3 mm to allow the LED to seat fully in the housing. Once that's done, I need to invent a way to lock the bulb in place. Gears are turning, invention coming soon.... One thing I can say for sure is that this will not be a simple task, and will not be for the faint of heart or casual weekend oil-changer. The way I'm currently thinking about it will involve making permanent, non-reversable changes to the Jaguar housing to accommodate and secure the LED bulb. The bulb itself will be removable should the need ever arise, but the entire set-up will be such that future owners will not be able to go back to a halogen H7. You all can decide, after all is said and done, if this is a modification you want to try. I'm all-in, as I already know the light output will be worth the effort.
On a brighter note (pun intended...), the 9006 fog light bulbs did snap right into the factory housings and look great. Very bright, very white, simple swap-out just like replacing with another halogen bulb. One important note to remember, LEDs only light up in one direction of electrical current. In other words, while the plug may go on either way the bulb will only light up with it in one position. So if you do LEDs, you have a 50% chance of plugging the light in wrong and getting no light. Simple to fix, just don't get alarmed when the light remains dark as you hit the switch to impress the wife, neighbors, etc. Verify that they work first...
Stay tuned.....
Steve
PS still waiting for the VVT carrier bush seals the vendor only included 2 of in my gasket kit, so I have time to fiddle with other, less-important things like re-inventing the headlight

 

Aaaaahhhhh, the fun and joy of merging 2 generations of technology.

 

Checkout

H7 - E46 BMW (99-06) HID Xenon Bulb Adaptors

 

I put Auxbeam led's in the fogs and have 5000k halogens in the headlight since i knew it wasn't plug in play. I was looking at the forums threads about HID's and saw the e46 has the same adapter for plug in and thought there should be a LED e46 adaptor and found that they do make some https://www.ebay.com/itm/Euro-H7-HID...cAAOSwqqRa4uVA